To protest or not to protest?
That is the question Vermonters have posed since news broke earlier this week that Vice President JD Vance planned to visit Vermont for a family ski trip this weekend.
On social media platforms such as Front Porch Forum, Facebook and Reddit, many residents supported protests targeting his stay at the Pitcher Inn in Warren — leading to the cancellation of his original lodging plans, as The Valley Reporter reported.
The back-and-forth even brought a response from Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who weighed in with a statement urging calm as protest plans escalated.
“I hope Vermonters remember the Vice President is here on a family trip with his young children and, while we may not always agree, we should be respectful,” Scott said in a Thursday statement. “Please join me in welcoming them to Vermont, and hoping they have an opportunity to experience what makes our state, and Vermonters, so special.”
On Waitsfield’s Front Porch Forum, multiple posts have detailed the different protests happening in the Mad River Valley, including a car caravan protest starting at Shaw’s in Waitsfield and plans for banners at Sugarbush ski resort. While some raise questions about the inconvenience of these protests, the majority seem to agree that it’s part of their First Amendment rights to do so.
One activist group, the Indivisible Mad River Valley, has planned a rally for 9 a.m. Saturday at the Mad River Green in Waitsfield. A Facebook event for a protest at the same time and similar location has more than 1,700 users expressing interest.
But others offered a strategic analysis of why protesting might not work.
Daniel Wetmore was among them, saying that while he understands the enthusiasm, he thinks that “the choice of Vermont is quite intentional and that the White House thinks it stands to gain” by a “media circus of demonstrations,” he wrote on Montpelier’s Front Porch Forum.
Catherine Beal, on the other hand, responded to those promoting a quiet response on Montpelier’s forum.
“While tens of thousands lost their jobs and are trying to figure out their Plan Bs? While hundreds of thousands more wonder when they’re next on the chopping block?” Beal wrote. “No, no we cannot let him relax and enjoy himself.”
The Vermont Republican Party announced on Friday its plans to send a welcome card to the vice president, thanking him for his visit.
“It would be one thing if he was here for a political event and a protest would be a fair call,” Paul Dame, chair of the Vermont GOP, said in an interview.
Dame said he was disappointed to learn that planned protests caused Vance to change his lodging plans, saying it was not the picture of the generous and welcoming state he grew up in.
“There are hundreds of Vermonters out there who are welcoming, and we can show that,” Dame said, adding that more than 300 people had signed the online card for Vance.
The Federal Aviation Administration implemented temporary flight restrictions around Burlington’s airspace for Vance’s arrival Friday night and departure Sunday.
Read the story on VTDigger here: From protests to welcome cards, Vice President JD Vance’s Vermont visit generates a buzz.